Quick third-period flurry sends Canadiens past Canucks
Mike Matheson and Juraj Slafkovsky scored goals 38 seconds apart to break a third-period tie and send the host Montreal Canadiens to a 6-3 victory over the slumping Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
Alexandre Carrier tallied twice while Noah Dobson and Oliver Kapanen added a goal apiece for the Canadiens, who have won four of their past five outings.
Montreal's Ivan Demidov collected three assists while Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Texier each posted a pair of helpers. Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.
Elias Pettersson, Evander Kane and Max Sasson replied for the Canucks, who have lost seven consecutive games (0-5-2) and sit at the bottom of the league standings.
Vancouver goalie Nikita Tolopilo stopped 35 shots.
With the back-and-forth affair tied at 3-3, Matheson put the Canadiens ahead for good 29 seconds into the third period when he gained the puck just inside the blue line and ripped a shot past a screen.
Slafkovsky made it a 5-3 game at 1:07 by unloading a high shot from the right faceoff dot as part of a three-point outing.
From there both clubs all but coasted to the finish line to end a clash in which Vancouver twice held a lead despite being thoroughly outclassed from the drop of the puck.
Although the Canadiens held all of the momentum from the start, Pettersson opened the scoring at 11:53 of the first period. He pounced on a rebound to net his third goal in five outings.
Dobson drew Montreal even on the power play by firing a perfect shot through a screen at 18:13 of the opening frame. He earned his second goal in three games.
Kane put the visitors ahead a second time two minutes into the second period by chipping home a rebound chance for his first goal in 12 games.
However, the Canadiens took a lead thanks to the most productive shift in Carrier's career. The defenseman tied the clash by converting a shot from the slot for his first goal in 44 games at 4:31 of the middle frame.
Carrier needed just 20 more seconds for his next tally. He made it a 3-2 game by driving to the net on the rush and redirecting Slafkovsky's crossing pass for his first career two-goal game.
Sasson buried the one-timer to end a 2-on-1 rush to even the clash before the midway point, only to see Montreal respond with three unanswered markers in the third period to pull away.